Survival : Highgrove Natures Kingdom

Oh it's in the tradition of the British royal family that they each put something of themselves of their souls even into their Great Houses and the grounds that surround them for Prince Charles Highgrove house in Gloucestershire is just such a special place it's not a ground palace it's not even very big but Highgrove has been both an official residence and a refuge finds a family home and perhaps most importantly it's where the prince has begun to put into practice his ideas about man's place in the natural world the gardens woods parkland and farms are all run within the regime that works with nature rather than with the aid of chemical fertilizers pesticides or herbicides much is being done to improve the estate's natural habitat and even the formal gardens have been carefully planned and plotted and the prince has done much of this himself the effect on the resident wildlife has been startling Oh Oh you Prince Charles visits the height where survival cameraman Morris Tibbles is busy filming blue death there she's going I think she's coming into but she then teach them how to look for food yeah they go around in family parties sooo now big thing up in the tops of trees mass of these categories there is a million and one shudders to think what would happen if they were if we didn't have these little predator Z so covers no Delton subtle balance as virtual and yes that's why these last boxes are a good thing I mean to take a foods off roses and all for the tea I keep trying to encourage them ladybirds because I never seem to be enough because all these sprays in the hedgerows nobody else on the other made they seem to don't do any good at all nope not really no I'll only overwintering insects sure they all have a purpose they bring off these young just at the time when all the caterpillars are at their peak is we've all gone back to being cry to get nice images amazing that's their Morris Tibbles and his wife Carol spent eighteen months filming the estate and its wildlife through the turning seasons of the year their story began towards the end of winter as everything was about to burst into life food is left out for the birds just as it is in millions of other gardens in Britain it's a vital lifeline for wildlife especially in hard winters ten foot high walls of the kitchen garden offer little protection against the cold as winter draws to a close at Highgrove the first signs of new life begin to emerge through the snow many houses have bird boxes it's one of the best ways to encourage birds into the garden Highgrove has 82 and tending to them has become one of the special duties of pc tula davies he's part of high growth security team but he's also a keen on otologist and he's been studying the estate's wildlife the boxes are secured with wire rather than nails to protect the trees this work has boosted the resident bird population although the thrush does not take advantage of his nest boxes Highgrove estate consists of three fairly widely separated pieces of farmland in the process of being converted to a mixed organic enterprise snow means hard work keeping the lanes between them unblocked for farm machinery as well as watering animals the arrival of spring is heralded by the unmistakable sound of the Rookery where the breeding season begins well before the first leaves appear on the trees these large raucous birds are among the first to nest and breed their eggs will be laid before mid-march it's the best time for Jemima parry-jones a well known expert on owls and other birds of prey to set up a breeding program at Highgrove for a spectacular bird that has almost disappeared from our farms and countryside the hayloft above the stables at Highgrove has been specially prepared for new residents it's been estimated that fewer than 5,000 pairs of barn owls remain in the wild in Britain a tiny fraction of their numbers even 50 years ago poisoning by pesticides loss of their principal hunting grounds in long tussock a grass and the disappearance of suitable Stonewall barns for nesting sites have all contributed to the drastic decline in numbers of the barn oh there have been many barn owl reintroductions by well-meaning individuals but simply releasing captive bred owls is not the answer and it's hoped that Jemima scheme here will serve as a blueprint for future releases outside the spring rains are beckoning frogs to one of the newly restored ponds near the house the males are the first to arrive and croak to attract the females several thousand jelly covered eggs are laid in clumps around the shallow edges of the pool amphibians like common frogs and smooth newts are declining in numbers they're very susceptible to polluted water and need clean ponds with a strong growth of aquatic plants to thrive the female smooth Newt lays her eggs singly on the water weed Prince Charles has restored many of these states derelict ponds with the help of John Hughes of the farming and wildlife advisory group this is one of six that we've done now and it's where do we start it was about Tim oh nine years ago nine ten yes yes ten years ago my first farms Club with you this name was full of old rubbish and then we were all full of a row yes yes they were well obviously was a horse wash because you've got the stones run way in and then run way out on the other side but do them you also put you in Hunter some bits of yes we do we put in that way we put in some star work to try and get the water more pure and then there's a bull crow foot out there in flour and it's always nice to seen there's some quested newts in here but have you noticed the first one we did that an increase in mmm-hmm yes and there's more he nested on there this year yeah and the old duck yes yes I suspect if we were to take a few more trees down that we don't want to here we get that's complaining here because they do like to be able to come in and go out you would like them right either way and we might be able to take down some of these don't you well could do I suppose yes yes I thought I'd leave them to start this is so though they do screen the farm buildings if you come in the draw I've done this but the whole point was make sure there's the flow babies look nice you don't have to scream thanks I hope you notice that there were that's very encouraging who've got some in there rewarding but the extraordinary I think is how those newts went on surviving and then that little pond the gap conservation doesn't necessarily mean preserving everything trees are felled on the Highgrove estate but in this case it's introduced larches which are being removed to make way for native broadleaf species such as oak and ash spring is a busy time on the farms and Prince William and Prince Harry regularly watch and even lend a hand with the landing they are encouraged to be aware of all aspects of farm life to use at Highgrove give birth in the spring the natural lament period rather than being forced to do so in midwinter this female needs a hand with the arrival of the second at her twins spring in Britain is short but a hectic time on the farms near the house Prince Charles's favorite mayor has just produced a phone the horse was domesticated by math long ago yet still retains much of its natural behavior originally a Plains animal the horse and its foal stay close together at all times it was the only way to protect its offspring against predators in its original wild staging wide open places thousands of years ago Oh by now the family of moorhens has moved in and produced chicks on one of the restored du ponds they're one of the first colonizers of new ponds and it's a sign that the pond has been restored to its original natural state the grass snake does not represent a threat to the chicks it feeds mainly on frogs and newts and it too is declining in numbers and dependent on clean ponds it will lay its eggs in piles of rotting manure where the resulting heat helps to incubate its clutch and manure is one thing there is plenty of on an organic farm like high growth as late spring brings Highgrove into blossom the barn owls have successfully paired and mated the female has laid five perfect white aides over a period of ten days it's a good start to the captive release schemes but it would be almost five weeks before they begin to hatch the female does all the incubating herself in the wild food would be brought to her by her mate in the hayloft the owls are given dead chicks and life in the woodland garden the pheasants to have been busy egg-laying the male is brightly colored and designed to be seen by other pheasants the female is a mixture of subtle shades of brown perfect camouflage while she's sitting on her nest at this time of year many birds in the woodland garden are nesting cuter Davies accompanies Prince Charles to show him the success of his work with the nest boxes 26 occupy how many actual nesting boxes on their eggs each award again plus the four old boxes but they are all all around all around the estate we've got a a circle of boxes there now but it's really encouraging that is not how it is that very pleased to see the moving on to this box because they're much easier to look after here and visitors didn't the nest is totally different to the others it's all bits of broken leaves and mark and also you'll find as you listed the tropic where the the birds have sealed their own to keep the drafts of within right also sometimes if the entrance hole is too big they'll I just decided that with with mud you get it so the custom build a big patio thing Avenue is a terrific seven seven and it's always been the case the previous no top success we've had in boxes and they've all been no there was one with sex and all the others were seven as long ago and you can tell that rarely can you come through this part of the estate without hearing not heart is cozy and them moving up and down the trees I wonder where the parents they won't be very far away because it's feeding quite well as well it's good and down in the bottom of the woodland garden we've got Luke it online eggs as well what do you think this one's gotten I wrote well visited I think it's the nine young in this one though then there were nine eggs laid and I think she'd they've all hatched out nothing I could hear the remember good mothers I've been in the copper beeches behind us he's a little bit anxious but if we keep the disturbance went to a minimum it doesn't and I know the decision to through just handling the boxes and just just checking them out in the end on top of the I think it's very cozy in there she banishes defeat with us solid ones the bottom and again well it's plenty of food about now they're you know on the Sycamore leaves and the occasion of the caterpillars and aphids this and keeping the populations of the most touchdowns this session little bit little bit anxious as what we're going to do I didn't blame it suppose you know sometimes you can you can you can actually pick them off but discount the end of the background and they something cover up and carry on but they can actually mate I think it's there's more likely to desert in the early stages when there's just one or two eggs there then but when they got young they think of a maternal instinct seemed to be very stronger than us of all the female pheasant returns to her clutch of eggs to roll them it takes some time she's laid 17 as spring eases its way into summer the grounds around hydro burst into color even well-maintained formal puns are useful for wildlife a large female forked Dragonfly proves the moss for a suitable damp place to lay her eggs the larvae will wiggle down into the water on hatching and prey upon tadpoles and other aquatic life for the next two years the larvae are small but formidable predators with more powerful jaws in proportion than any shark a clean healthy pond attracts a huge variety of animal and plant life this pond is less than a year old and part of an entirely natural domestic sewage treatment process household sewage from Highgrove is pumped through tanks of bark chippings into a bed of Phragmites reeds what's left behind in the bark chips can eventually be used as compost while the roots of the reeds draw out the resulting soluble nutrients water trickles through the wall and into a bed of willows where even more nutrients are taken up when the water leaves the pool it forms an extremely pure contribution to the local river system it certainly provides a welcome bath for a whitetail and a drink on the wing for the swallows the swallows are nesting in the hayloft next to the barn Oh many generations of swallows have hatched been raised and have returned to breed under these rafters overlooking the stable yards in the neighboring loft the barn owl eggs have all hatched but because the eggs were laid over 10 days and incubated from the arrival of the first there is a large disparity in the size of the hatchlings the chicks hatch blind and naked in the wild if food was short the smaller chicks would not survive and may even be eaten by the larger chicks but here there's plenty for all in contrast the chicks of the free-range chickens around the farm buildings hatch out with eyes open fully mobile and a covering of fluffy down essential in the dangerous world of the farmyard there's a strict pecking order among both the hens and one of the many dry stone walls provides a refuge for a whole array of wildlife but this one is home to an unusual visitor the tree creeper normally breeds in holes and crevices in trees but this bear have chosen a crevasse in the wall just outside high Grows walled kitchen-garden it was this one acre garden surrounded by high walls which first attracted Prince Charles to hydras everything within the walls was clear before the transformation could begin the prince has put his heart soul and back into the garden in both the design and execution of his plans it's an ideal place to work or sit watch and meditate the koi carp were a gift from yahoodi menuhin the garden produce all organically grown is eaten at Highgrove and some James's Palace the formal gardens around the house have also been planned by the prince himself with the help of experts rosemary very and lady Salisbury a family of spotted fly catchers have taken up residence on one of the walls of the house the gardens are a rich hunting ground for caterpillars and other insects no pesticides are used here a wealth of flowers blossomed throughout the summer in the gardens and attract pollinating insects in search of nectar the more wildflowers there are the more insects and the more insects the more wild flower the honeybees carry the pollen back to the hive in the woodland garden the returning workers still carrying their high-protein food perform a dance in front of their co-workers the way in which they dance conveys to the other bees the exact direction and distance of the best places to find right flowers it's not just bees that rely on the flowers for food there's a huge variety of butterflies here their colors are as bright and varied as the flowers they feed on the thriving butterfly population is largely due to vast arrays of wild flowers established in the grounds the paddocks have been planted with wildflower seed mixture to suit the soil around high growth this is how many meadows would have looked in Gloucestershire before man invented weed killers back in the stable-yard the young princes ponies are being fitted with a new set of shoes above in the hayloft the barn owl chicks are growing well and are now being monitored by closed-circuit television to cut down disturbance and prevent the chicks from getting too used to people the vol pollination in in any others wait so the bird is it for the shortage of food or what is holding the bar beating feeds I will the by breeding season started long before while Jemima and cooter follow the progress of the chicks John Hughes is ensuring that there is still an ample supply of food for the Owls to feed on once they have been released there have been many such trapping exercises and the results show a healthy population of voles this is an essential part of any relief scheme the voles sustain other predators to kestrels hover over the house and nest in the old trees in the paddocks tawny owls to rely heavily on rodents for food a male sits outside his nest hole while his mate sits with their chicks inside the barn owl chicks allow well-grown they're being fed more frequently with dead mice rather than chicks so they know what to look for when they begin to hunt for themselves it will only be a matter of weeks before they will have to start finding their own food that's why it's so important to ensure that there are plenty of rodents in the area the rough overgrown ground has been deliberately left around arable fields and skirts the paddocks is known as headland and is a rich hunting ground for the birds of prey and other predators a family of foxes have an earth close to the house and their cubs emerge to play in the long shadows of a June evening foxes are a natural controller of mice and bones but too many foxes can be a problem for farmers especially organic farmers where there are no insecticides or herbicides and rodents flourish because herbicides aren't used on the farms even the productive fields support a large variety of wild flowers obvious species like the poppy and tiny easily overlooked flowers such as the wild pansy the organic farmland the headland that surrounds them and the dry stone walls that border them are a vital haven for a whole variety of animal life that's threatened by modern agricultural methods it's now high summer at Hydra the swallows have moved out of the hayloft but are still feeding they're fully fledged young close to the barn young swallows will have mastered the art of catching insects on the wing before they can head south to spend their first winter in Africa it's now 2:00 that the wire on the window keeping the barn owls in the hayloft can be removed at first they are reluctant to stray too far from their familiar home but as each day goes by they wander further from the barn now they can repay all the effort that has been put into their release by helping to control the numbers of rodents in and around the farm buildings so far the program looks like being a success it's gone quite successfully the release program yes it has one of the advantages are here is that you've you've got headland which barn owls desperately need they need it's not so much the nest sites it's it's the foraging sites and this what they call rank Tasaki grasses untold distance is ideal and we've lost so much of it over the last 30 years I think it's 96% has gone red as much as it which is horrendous so with that with luck they'll do well and the ones that we let go last year the babies as far as we know I have actually settled in one of your neighboring farms they are pretty territorial anyway aren't they once they've established a territory yes they like to hang on to it because obviously either the longer they can hang on to it the more successful 9 particular pair is going to be for breeding mmm but if we're releasing the Latinos why to me advantages is whether there is enough of the right sort of habitat for them well you're dead right because unfortunately an awful lot of very well-meaning people have been releasing vinyls without doing anything about it here because we've done a lot of work checking for your voles checking no one's using poisoning and you've been organizing your land with hedges new hedges being planted all of that helps the wildlife in general and if it helps the short-tailed field goal it helps abana 12 new hedgerows have been planted at Highgrove in recent years providing vital nesting sites and flight corridors for small birds through big open fields some of the owls remain close to the house and hunt for rodents and the meadows a young fox is becoming bold enough to investigate the gardens at the rear of the house as daylight fades some of high groves other nocturnal inhabitants begin to emerge the Badgers will spend the night foraging for worms rodents seeds and fruit and return to their set in the early hours the Fox returns to the house to forage under the security lights it's joined by another youngster from the nearby den friendly Schley fighting is giving way to true aggression finding food is still a serious business even in this favorable environment paddy hwhiteland who's worked at Highgrove for 50 years emerges to investigate the noise paddy not only oversees the stables but just about everything else here as well it's important that so many foxes about to keep the chickens locked up at night they instinctively roost well off the ground a throwback to the days when they roam the forests of Asia before they were domesticated by man at the dead of night the stables attract other visitors hedgehogs play an important role in controlling garden pests such as slugs and snails at the formal pond Paddy's torch picks out the great crested newts which are difficult to see during the day by now they have long finished breeding and the adults are beginning to leave the water the male's have lost their flamboyant crests and the females having laid their 200 eggs looking much slimmer they'll spend the autumn and winter on land and return neck spring to breed in the pond as the early morning Sun rises the Badgers returned to their set the for bedding down for the day the large Cubs exercised their strength and growing muscles by play fighting for their much more gregarious than pottsy's which dispersed as they reach maturity Prince Charles have been keen to preserve this particular set even though it's a potential hazard at harvest time it has supported a large healthy population of badges for many years as John Hughes explained these are fearful Oh probably a hundred years it civilians as it very old set and lovely a mile of tunnels here hmm it's it goes right out into the wheat field out there hmm which is a problem farming because the combine harvester were this heavy tank on it will probably drop down in and then disappear on the ground I move I see I see they be very busy yeah it's the beer this is the bedding that they change isn't I'm better when they got Cubs yeah and they got sort of special the tree yes yeah that's all on the different runs around the periphery then they don't turn once they get adult they don't deposit their penis close to her a very clean animal nearly but how many Cubs to them do it well the most is about four but they average about one comes probably three or four here with the two families hmm their diets very varied they quite partial to straw Britain carrots hmm otherwise worms most mostly all the year round worms are available slugs and snails they do eat a few of them the odd baby rabbit yes very interesting at harvest time the combine drivers have to take great care not to catch a wheel in one of the many entrances to the set the harvest mouse that thrives here because of the absence of chemicals has to watch out too it may look antiquity that the binder plays an important role in the economy the organic wheat farm organically grown wheat has much longer stalks than its chemically cultivated counterpart it's much tougher to and ideally suited to touching organically-grown way to track the premium but the yield is lower at Highgrove the income from the organic field is boosted by the simple reversal of modern technology it is however labor intensive and much safer for the harvest my sister we had over over time my grows farm manager David Wilson explains ever that's about the best we've had few years we serve can build we've got the benefit of the rain this year which is good so obviously held birth to six years in sixty raging so it's amazing I can't believe it very encouraging what I can't get over is is that is the length of the stem yes it ideally suited for fetching this is a little bit perfect it is quite a a good market isn't the for fetching quality straw there is and people have now waking up to the fact that fertilized straw on their roof rots in about six or seven years but the organic stuff is the same as what was traditionally grown up until the war at least and will last for a generation because we've all become so completely hooked on on fertilizer and we are not artificial fertilizer right because many people perhaps don't realize what is involved in making this stuff in the first bit now then most people fail to realize that it takes five or six tons of oil to make a ton of fertilizer which is not really very energy-efficient it isn't it's now late summer and the dairy cows are giving birth newly born calves are struggling to their feet unlike the plains living horse but cow is domesticated from a forest living ancestor and rather than keeping its offspring by its side at all times the cow leaves it in the safety of the undergrowth given the opportunity most farmers don't know this but there's no cover in many fields the calf emerges to feed but has trouble locating the other which after years of breeding for milk production is now much more laden and lower down but the calf is guided by age-old instincts the most obvious feature of the Cotswolds countryside is the dry stone walls which are a haven for wildlife sadly many have been removed or are in disrepair slow worms bask on the stones warmed by the Sun and hunt for slugs and small snails inside the wall a doe rabbit is giving birth just as countless generations of rabbits have done here before her many of the wars are centuries old and at times of prone to collapse Mervyn dart has spent his spare time restoring much of the dry stone walling around a high-growth estate yeah yes and good even worse yes that's coming off of the collapse people's knees yes there was a rabbit had buried under this but even a well-maintained wing still leaves holes and cavities but when the rabbits find shelter so - to their enemies the weasel lives and breathes in the same walls the site of one of the fox cubs sends the rabbit scurrying to safety oh so the rabbit thinks it's all part of the balance of nature an essential natural check on rabbit numbers a rabbit will either run or stay perfectly still at the sight of a fox provided it remains motionless the rabbit is relatively safe the Fox has poor eyesight over long distances just as the numbers of rabbits need to be controlled at the hands of man or nature then so to do the numbers of foxes fox hunting has its supporters and critics it's a traditional way of controlling the numbers of foxes which are virtually no natural predators these are young fox hounds on their first run out and that's just what it ends up being a good runner no Fox is caught today the summer flowers give way to mellower shades as autumn settles on high growth the Red Admiral sets sugars from the rotting Apple to see it through its winter dormancy for the prince Highgrove is an attempt to produce a better model for our relationship with the natural world I maintain of the whole essence of life nowadays is of a short-term perspective with a no long-term outlook at all guiding supporting this business of trying to rediscover the importance of the natural cycles and work with with the whole natural cycle rather constantly try to turn the whole place into her into a faction which is so mechanical artificial doesn't actually allow for the vagaries of nature although organic farming is is held up to this some kind of strange hocus-pocus is not at all it's merely trying to work with with the whole natural system in a more sensitive way Prince Charles is searching for the best way to blend successful land management which will sustain the health and quality of his land with modest profit and he wants this man-made environment to be as natural a habitat as possible for wild animals and plants in time he hopes that what he's achieved here will be an example which other farmers and landowners may wish to follow showing them that we needn't be at war with nature in the British countryside working with the natural rhythm of the land is the only way to ensure a long-term future both for ourselves and the wild things that share our world Oh you

Channel: AngelDocs

Views: 74,012

Keywords: highgrove, prince charles, nature, gardens, documentary ., highgrove estate, gardening, wildlife

Id: VXc7K17x-dw

Length: 50min 35sec (3035 seconds)

Published: Sat Jan 05 2013